Mapping Jimmy John’s Non-Compete Sandwich Zones

This week it was reported that U.S. sandwich restaurant chain Jimmy John’s requires their deli employees to sign non-compete agreements. This revelation has sparked lots of public dialogue about labor rights, fast food worker unionization and the limits of non-compete agreements.

Jimmy John’s is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois and has over 2,000 stores in the United States.

The verbiage of a Jimmy John’s employment agreement basically states that for two years after an employee leaves their job, they will not work in the sandwich business anywhere within three miles of any Jimmy John’s location.

As the Huffington Post points out, this creates a nearly 6,000 square mile “employment exclusion zone” in the United States for any former Jimmy John’s employee. In practical terms, this contractual restriction raises an interesting geospatial question about where these former employees can look for other jobs in the sandwich business.

It was recently revealed that employees at Jimmy John’s, including sandwich makers and delivery drivers, are required to sign non-compete agreements as a condition of employment.

Map guru Brian Timoney of The Timoney Group (@briantimoney on Twitter) pointed out that a map would help add context to this conversation, and SigActs started crunching coordinates. We have put together an interactive map detailing the collision of the three mile “employment exclusion zones” around each of Jimmy John’s 2,000 U.S. stores.

Click on this image to access an interactive map detailing all of Jimmy John’s “employment exclusion zones”.

If static maps are more your style, below are visualizations of “employment exclusion zones” around Jimmy John’s sandwich shops in a few major U.S. cities. Anywhere in red, a former Jimmy John’s employee is forbidden from working in the sandwich business for a two year period.

The places in red on this map of Denver, Colorado are off limits for any former Jimmy John’s employee looking to work in the sandwich business (imagery credit: Google Earth).

Minneapolis, Minnesota offers few areas for post Jimmy John’s sandwich employment (imagery credit: Google Earth).

The “Windy City” of Chicago, Illinois is a stronghold for Jimmy Johns, and a tough place to find a sandwich job for after you hang up your Jimmy John’s apron (imagery credit: Google Earth).

A three mile radius around each Jimmy John’s store seems like a short distance in print, but visualizing the implications of Jimmy John’s non-compete agreement tells a powerful story. Leave your comments and let us know what you think about this issue!

Crossposted from the SigActs blog.